Sun, July 25th, 2021: Truijillo Peru Temple #147: Sacrament Mtg, RS, James's blessing, venison gravy, Rain, Blog, Index, "CFM" at Peeler's, Charlie, Molly

 

Trujillo, Peru

147th operating temple

Dedicated: 21 June 2015

By: Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Jesus Christ, Prophecies about

John 6:14

Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

Book of Mormon

Alma 39:1-19

Q: What does it mean to "cross" yourself in something?

A: Alma 39:7-8 refer to sins that are crimes. Sexual sins are serious in the eyes of the Lord, but can be forgiven...if we "repent and forsake" those sins, and go no more after the lusts of our eyes, and cross ourselves. In vs. 9 "cross yourself" is used twice..(a reminder of its importance). It can mean to turn your life around..switch directions and no longer give in to these sins. JS translation of Matthew 16:26 confirms this. It reads "And now for a man to take up his cross, is to deny himself of all ungodliness, and every worldly lust, and keep my Commandments." Cross yourself is to deny yourself, and to control "ALL" your passions. In other words, to use self-mastery. We can't hide our sins and except we repent, those sins will stand as a testimony against us. Alma was teaching his son that cross yourself means to erase, cancel, stop, and avoid moral transgressions.

D&C

Review 81-83

"Come Follow Me"

Review "Where Much is Given, Much is Required"

AprGenCon

"Defending Our Divinely Inspired Constitution"

President Dallin H. Oaks

Our belief in divine inspiration gives Latter-day Saints a unique responsibility to uphold and defend the United States Constitution and principles of constitutionalism wherever we live. We should trust in the Lord and be positive about this nation's future.

The Family A Proclamation To The World

#1

We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

Inklings

What Has Our Savior Done For Us?

Dallin H. Oaks

Luke 24

Up at 4:45 to take a shower. I spent the rest of the morning until time to go to church studying President Nelson's conference talk on increasing our faith. I studied so much I could give the lesson. I love this talk and I'm looking forward to discussing it with the sisters in Relief Society today. 

We left early enough to get our shady parking space under the big pine tree where we like to park. Chuck was ahead of us and parked right next to us. He likes the shade too. Kathy is in Texas with her daughter so Chuck is alone today.

The Grapp kids were all spread out on the bench where we usually sit by Catherine and Kerri so we sat in the back of the chapel behind the Skousen's. Sister Skousen is teaching our Relief Society lesson today and she says she is ready.

Sister Young and Sister Johnson were the speakers in Sacrament meeting. We are back to our normal schedule with the sacrament first. Also, the boys and men are not wearing masks. 

Sister Young spoke on covenants and Sister Johnson spoke about all of us being children of God. When she first got up she had each of us say: "I am a child of God." She used President Ballard's October 2019 General Conference address, "Giving Our Spirit Control Over Our Bodies." I am wondering if my spirit has control over my body. I definitely have some work to do in this area.

I conducted in Relief Society and I think I did a better job than I did last time. I had every sister introduce herself. We had only one new sister this week. Sister Skousen gave a great lesson on President Nelson's talk, "Christ is Risen: Faith in Him Will Move Mountains."

After the block, James, Brother DeWitt, and Chuck and I went in classroom 209 and Brother DeWitt gave James a priesthood blessing. Chuck did the anointing. Brother DeWitt gave a wonderful blessing. He blessed James that he would get the right treatment and that he would be made well. We all felt good afterwards.

For lunch James made venison gravy and I heated up some biscuits. Lunch was delicious and made us drowsy so we took naps. 

It rained hard this afternoon and we had rivers of water running everywhere.  This evening we were supposed to have "Come Follow Me" at the Goodman's house, but they have 8 leaks in their roof and are in no condition to have company. The Peeler's graciously offered to have the meeting at their house, which we did. We had 8 out of the 9 people who normally attend. Kathy is out of town with her daughter. The Goodman's conducted the meeting and served the refreshments, delicious lemon cake. We had an enjoyable evening with our dear friends, the Peeler's, Goodman's, and Brother Crane. I indexed and only have 309 names left to reach my goal of 3,000 for the month of July. I also blogged and watched an episode of "The Chosen." It was a good Sabbath day.

I finished my book by Sister Nelson, "The Heavens Are Open." This is my second time reading it. Each time it gets a little better.

I also read from "Grace Where You Are" by Emily Belle Freeman. Here is a quote from the chapter, "My Grace Can Be Found in Wilderness Places." " Christ promises you can find grace in your wilderness, grace to lead you, build you, keep you from stumbling and cause you to stand."

Molly

Sat, July 24th, 2021: Payson Utah Temple #146: Temple shift, initiatory director, Sis Shelton w/purple hair?, Aliberto's, puddles everywhere, Beckham's flood - James helps

 

Payson, Utah

146th operating temple

Dedicated: 7 June 2015

By: Henry B. Eyring

Jesus Christ, Prophecies about

John 5:46

For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of me.

Book of Mormon

Alma 38:1-15

Q:  How does one use boldness, but not overbearance?

A: All things should be kept in reasonable balance. To be temperate is to show self-discipline and moderation. To be bold is tohave courage and confidence, in the things of God but not overbearing, which is the opposite of humble and meek. Overbearance has more to do with promoting yourself, being arrogant and boasting in you own wisdom and strength. We must watch ourselves that we don't become self-righteous and think we are better than our brothers and sisters.

D&C

Saints chp. 14, pages 150-157

"Come Follow Me"

FSS & FHE D&C 81:3; 81:5; 82:8-10; 82:18-19

AprGenCon

"Christ Is Risen; Faith In Him Will Move Mountains"

President Russell M. Nelson

President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

May I offer five suggestions to help you develop faith and trust.

First, Study.

Second, Choose to Believe in Jesus Christ.

Third, Act in Faith.

Fourth, Partake of Sacred Ordinances Worthily.

Fifth, Ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, for help.

The Living Christ

#11

We bear testimony, as His duly ordained Apostles - that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. He way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.

Inklings

"We need to recognize that knowing the Savior is the most important pursuit of our lives. It should take priority over anything else."

-Elder Michael John U. Teh

I got up at 4 a.m. this morning. I took a shower, had breakfast, and got ready to go to the temple. I am very sad to hear that both Brother and Sister Elmer have Covid. They are the best co-ordinators, so kind and understanding. 

When we got to Jake Flake's bridge near the temple the road was closed. James looked at the road and decided he could make it through so we went through. The water was still running over the road but was not deep. We made it through with only a little mud on the car. If we had gone around we would have been late. The Toronto's are presiding today and they want the preparation meeting to start at 6:30 instead of 6:45. I don't think everyone got the memo about the new start time because several people were not present. 

I am the initiatory director again and will be for a couple of months.  Brother and Sister Solomon are filling in for the Elmer's. Brother Solomon is a cousin to the Solomon's we know, Bill and Ron.

Sisters Skousen, Reidhead, and Gentry were the first workers. They decided not to do the rotation. Sister Griffie was the first patron but she only had one name so I gave her some shared family names to do. 

The next patron did not show up. Sister Wenhardt did a sheet of shared family names. We also had a Sister Larson who brought her own family names. The next four thirty minute slots were filled by a Sister Bowen from Snowflake. She and her husband are always at the temple and do so many family names from one of the countries in Scandinavia. A Sister Kamka came and said she thought she had an appointment, but she did not. I sent her to the office and they told me to work her in to do two shared family names, which I did. She wanted to do some ordinances so she could go to the celestial room. She said she had just moved to Snowflake from Idaho Falls. I asked her why and she said she couldn't handle the 30 degrees below zero winters anymore.

After I finished in initiatory I was assigned as a greeter downstairs behind the recommend desk. The 30 minutes I was there, James was at the recommend desk. Not one patron came in to greet. A young married couple came out and their adoring crowd was waiting outside with a cheer when they went out. 

James was finished for the day but I was supposed to go upstairs and be the greeter at the top of the stairs. I looked up from halfway up the stairs and saw President Toronto sitting in my chair. I decided it was time for me to go home. I told Sister Shelton, the assistant coordinator and she gave me permission. Sister Shelton is probably in her 80's and she told me when she is finished working in the temple she is going to die her hair purple with teal streaks. I just can't picture it, but to each her own.  I was ready to go before James was. 

I wanted to go through Aliberto's drive-thru in Taylor where the old Pizza Hut was. James says we were in that drive-thru for 45 minutes and I think he was right. It was quite warm outside but we didn't want to run the engine while we were idling so we rolled our windows down. I ordered an Arizona burrito which is small pieces of beef, onions, potatoes, and spices. James ordered camarones rancheros, shrimp with peppers, and onions in a sauce with corn tortillas and rice and beans. I ate my burro on the way home and thoroughly enjoyed it. James, because of the mess he made on his dress pants last time, waited until he got home to eat. He loved what he ordered and will probably order it again.

We both took longs naps, mine longer than James's. I indexed, blogged, and walked the rest of the evening until bedtime.

James had the opportunity to go with Chuck to help a family whose house flooded because of the rain. He said in two days we have had 10 inches of rain. That is a lot for this area. Water is running everywhere.

I started a new audio book, "Knight of Redmond." I finished "For Elise." 

Amelia's cake

If only....

Rome Temple

Fri, July 23rd, 2021: Cordoba Argentina Temple#145: Summer's birthday, Ruthie, Scarlett, Backhoe stuck, Elk in our yard, Chelsea & Brutus, Lola, OLympics, "The Chosen"

 

Cordoba, Argentina

145th operating temple

Dedicated: 17 May 2015

By: Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Jesus Christ, Prophecies about

John 3:14

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

Book of Mormon

Alma 37:27-47

". . . there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ."(v.9)

The only sure way to success; He is the hope that looks through any trial and even death. "I have learned that not shrinking is more important than surviving." - Neal A. Maxwell

Jesus did not shrink.

D&C

83

"Come Follow Me"

83 "Widows and Orphans Shall Be Provided For"

AprGenCon

"They Cannot Prevail: We Cannot Fall"

Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong

Of the Seventy

I hope and pray that we all will find and stay on the sure foundation as we establish our future life. We are reminded in Helaman 5:12: "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

"Our Personal Savior"

Elder Michael John U. Teh

Of the Seventy

Second, as we are increasingly coming to know the Savior, scriptural passages and the words of the prophets become so intimately meaningful to us that they become our own words. It is not about copying the words, feelings, and experiences of others as much as it is coming to know for ourselves, in our own unique way, by experimenting upon the word and receiving a witness from the Holy Ghost. 

The Living Christ

#10

We testify that He will someday return to earth. "And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together" (Isaiah 40:5). He will rule as King of Kings and reign as Lord of Lords, and every knee shall bend and every tongue shall speak in worship before Him. Each of us will stand to be judged of Him according to our works and the desires of our hearts.

Up at 5:15. Today is Summer's birthday. I hope she received our card. I'm not sure how old Summer is, I think a little younger than Anna.

I broke the frames of my glasses the other day so I reverted to using my old prescription. I sent a picture of the broken glasses to Sheri and she said she could not fix them, so I began pulling out all of my old glasses, hoping there would be a frame she could put my new lenses in. I have three pair.

Sheri called James this morning about leaks at Chandler Eyecare. She always wants her dad's opinion on construction matters.

Trina texted James this morning, "We love you." He texted back that he loved them too and it was wonderful to receive such a message first thing in the morning.

James brought me my breakfast around 8 a.m. He loves to feed things. He admitted to me that there is enough feed in the field for Luna but he buys her feed because she loves it so much. He also feeds the hummingbirds. The other day he bought a new feeder so now we have two again. He really does have such a kind and caring heart and loves to bring other's joy. 

I had an appointment for 1:30 with our neighbor Chelsea. She has been gone to Alaska with her husband for a few months but now she is back. I am her ministering sister. I took four sugar cookies, a couple of quotes for Chelsea and a couple of pictures of the Savior each for her two young daughters, Peyton and Scotlyn.

When I got to Chelsea's no one was there. I knocked on the door, no answer. No vehicles were home. I texted Chelsea and she called me. Our conversation went something like this: Hi, I meant to call you this morning but was in such a hurry I forgot. We had to leave this morning to pick up Brutus in Colorado Springs. I knew Brutus liked to wander but Colorado Springs was a bit of a stretch. She said that someone had brought him back from Alaska for them and they were required to pick him up in Colorado. I told her I would pray for them and would she please let me know when she arrived home safely. She said she would. I told her about the cookies, and pictures, and she thanked me.

I went on to the post office and was pleased to see a couple of packages from Amazon. One was refills for James's pen and the other a book I had ordered, "Opening the Seven Seals."  

I read to James from "Promise of Spring" and while I walked I listened to "For Elise". I also spoke to Sister Wilhelm, not Sandra, but her mother-in-law, about her ministering. She had just returned from Bear Lake, Idaho where she is from. We discussed each of her sisters and she made a suggestion that I wrote down to discuss with Tamara.  It was a pleasant visit.

While I worked on indexing I watched another episode of "The Chosen." This one is called "Reckoning." The Savior is arrested and taken to Quintus but was soon released. The apostles are upset because of the arrest of John the Baptist by Herod. Matthew is feeling more acceptance from Simon. 

James saw about 20 elk in our field this afternoon. Here are some pictures he took:

This one has been rolling in the mud.

James got a call from Brother Elmer, the temple coordinator for the brothers on our shift. His wife is the sisters coordinator. He wants James to officiate at the 9:30 session tomorrow and had some things to tell him. He and Sister Elmer both have Covid.

 I finished my blog around 5 pm at which time I went in to fix dinner. I had already started some baked potatoes in the oven and now I made mine and James's favorite salad, apples, nuts, bacon, feta cheese, dried cranberries and romained lettuce with poppy seed dressing. This time I used sliced almonds instead of walnuts and it was just as tasty. I also heated up the rest of the shrimp in the freezer and walla, a nice meal. 

Before going to bed I read several chapters from Sister Nelson's book, "The Heavens are Open." I read this book in January of 2020. It is an easy read and I do like Sister Nelson's style of writing.

Happy Birthday Summer!

Stuck in the mud